The wealth of insights into the brain’s functioning gained by neuroscience in recent years led to the development of new possibilities for intervening in the brain such as neurotransplantation, neural prostheses and brain stimulation techniques. Moreover, new and safer classes of psychopharmaceutical drugs lend themselves to...

This Acta Neurochirurica supplement distills the accomplishments of the Joint Convention of the Academia Eurasania Nuerochirurgica and the German Academy of Neurosurgery held in Bamberg, Germany from Sept. 1-3 2005. The main focus is "Medical Technologies for Neurosurgery," including: imaging, image processing, robotics, workflow...

Recent research and clinical work have demonstrated that the rapid urologic innovation in minimally invasive treatment is creating exciting new horizons in endourology. This sixth volume in the series Recent Advances in Endourology brings that knowledge to a wider audience, focusing on the new concept of endourooncology, which is the...

Modern cardiovascular science has produced a revolutionary new idea: the heart acts not merely as a pump, but as a "gland", that is as a regulator of circulatory homeostasis and salt-water balance. This book combines the classical heamodynamic view with the new neuro-hormonal paradigm, in all its potential clinical implications. The...

Childhood brain tumors are a diverse group of diseases characterized by the abnormal growth of tissue contained within the skull. Other than leukemia and lymphoma, brain tumors are the most common type of neoplasms that occur in children. The leading cause of death from childhood neoplasms among persons up to 19 years is brain tumors. As...

Forty years ago, the age-old battle against infectious diseases as a major threat to human health was believed close to being won. However, by the late twentieth century, the increase of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases was evident in both low and high income countries. About 30 new infectious diseases have been identified in the...

Neuroblastoma is a medical enigma. As a childhood neoplasm arising from neural crest cells, it is characterized by diverse clinical behaviors ranging from spontaneous remission to rapid tumor progression and death. Although clinical outcome can be predicted to a large extent by the stage of disease and the age at diagnosis, an in-depth...

Blood loss in spine surgery is a significant and very common problem connected with all kinds of surgical procedures. An international faculty of authors provide a comprehensive survey on the research and evidence about blood sparing in spine surgery. This publication fills a gap in the spinal literature and provides invaluable data for all...

Traditionally, the interplay between cancer cells and host immunity has been studied systemically. Recent studies, however, indicate that the tumor microenvironment is unique in providing both supportive and inhibitory factors that determine the fate of the tumor and its host. This volume compiles reviews on innate and adaptive immune...